Sunrise

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Lionblaze’s voice came out louder than he’d intended; both apprentices jumped backward. “The snake was just there. It could easily have bitten Sol instead of Honeyfern.”

“I wish it had,” Foxpaw muttered.

Lionblaze didn’t say anything. Hadn’t there been enough death in the Clan already?

He led the apprentices to a bramble thicket near the beginning of the old Thunderpath and crawled underneath to bite the long, thornless stems at the bottom. The two apprentices hesitated at the edge of the stone, blinking nervously.

“Come on!” Lionblaze urged them. “What’s the matter?”

“Are there any snakes in there?” Icepaw whimpered.

“If there are, I’m dead,” Lionblaze replied irritably. “Okay,” he added with a sigh. “I’ll bite through the stems, and you drag the tendrils out.”

For a while they worked steadily, and the pile of bramble tendrils began to grow. Then Foxpaw stopped with the end of a stem in his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Lionblaze asked. “I need you to get that out of the way so I can reach the next one.”

Foxpaw dropped the tendril. “I can smell WindClan!”

Icepaw let go the stem she was dragging to the pile and tasted the air. “No, it’s RiverClan!” she exclaimed.

Quickly Lionblaze wriggled his way out of the thicket and took a deep breath. “You’re both right,” he meowed, his neck fur beginning to rise. “And there’s ShadowClan scent as well.”

Foxpaw laid his ears flat and crouched low to the ground. “Are we being invaded again?” he shrieked.

“I don’t think so.” Lionblaze forced himself to stay calm. “The scents aren’t strong enough for lots of cats.” Gesturing with his tail, he added, “Stay behind me. And don’t do anything unless I tell you.”

The two apprentices huddled together, close to his hind paws, while Lionblaze faced the undergrowth from where the scents were approaching. A clump of bracken quivered, and Blackstar of ShadowClan stepped into the open, followed by Rowanclaw. A heartbeat later Leopardstar and Reedwhisker appeared, and hard on their paws came Onestar and Turnear.

All three leaders! Lionblaze stared at them, his heart racing. What kind of patrol is this?

“Greetings, Lionblaze.” Blackstar dipped his head. “We need to speak with Firestar.”

“O-okay,” Lionblaze meowed. “Follow me. Foxpaw, Icepaw, bring back the brambles, please.”

Leaving the apprentices to their task, he led the visitors back to the stone hollow and through the thorn tunnel. The clearing was quieter than when he had left. Honeyfern’s body still lay in the shade. Her family crouched around it, keeping vigil alone until nightfall. Sol had disappeared; Thornclaw was back on guard duty outside his nest. The queens and kits had retreated into the nursery.

Firestar was standing in the middle of the clearing, talking to Graystripe and Brambleclaw. All three cats looked up in surprise as Lionblaze emerged with his unusual patrol following.

“Greetings,” Firestar mewed, dipping his head courteously to the other Clan leaders. His tone was wary, and his neck fur had begun to bristle. “What can I do for you?”

Blackstar didn’t bother to return his greeting. “Is Sol here?” he demanded.

“And is it true that he killed Ashfur?” Leopardstar added.

Onestar bared his teeth in a snarl. “When were you going to tell us that you’re keeping a murderer captive?”

Firestar’s ears pricked and his tail-tip twitched from side to side. Lionblaze could see shock in his green eyes. “How did you find out so quickly?” he asked.

“One of my patrols saw your cats returning with Sol along the edge of the lake,” Onestar replied, his voice tense with anger. “They told a RiverClan patrol, and RiverClan passed on the news to ShadowClan.”

Firestar’s gaze flicked from one leader to the next. “Since when was this any of the other Clans’ business?” he meowed icily.

“Since you put our Clans in danger,” Leopardstar retorted.

“You know how much of a threat that cat is,” Onestar added, his forepaws kneading the ground. “And yet you brought him back into our territories!”

Blackstar took a pace forward. Lionblaze could hardly believe that he would attack Firestar in the ThunderClan camp, but he braced his muscles ready to defend his leader if any of the other cats so much as raised a paw.

“Have you forgotten what Sol tried to do to ShadowClan?” Blackstar hissed. “He tried to force us to stop believing in StarClan!”

And I’m a mouse! Lionblaze thought cynically. A look flashed between Graystripe and Brambleclaw, telling Lionblaze that the senior warriors shared his thought. Blackstar wasn’t prepared to admit any responsibility, though at the time he had been only too willing to listen to Sol.

“What are you going to do with him?” Leopardstar demanded.

Firestar hesitated. He was looking increasingly harried, but he kept his claws sheathed. “I haven’t decided,” he admitted. “We’re still trying to find out exactly what happened.”